TikTok Star Sydney Towle Dies at 26 After Rare Cancer Battle
Sydney Towle, a TikTok content creator who spent nearly three years openly documenting her battle with a rare bile duct cancer, has died at 26.
Towle's family confirmed her death on her Instagram page Aug. 6, one day after she passed. The announcement featured a graphic reading, "An endless ray of sunshine. A daughter, sister, and friend to so many," with a caption adding, "We will always love you so much Sydney. I am so proud of how hard you fought. I love you." Her brother, Austin Towle, and mother, Elizabeth Morrow, also shared a video message on her TikTok account. "She fought really hard, and we're so proud of her," Austin said. Their mother added, "We love you and thank you for all of your kind messages of support and love. We really appreciate it and she will not be forgotten." In a statement shared with TODAY.com, the family said, "We are so proud of how hard Sydney fought and for sharing her journey with so many people."
News of Towle's death came a day after her brother shared that she had been moved into hospice care.
A Diagnosis That Defied the Odds
Towle, a Dartmouth College graduate living in Los Angeles and working in marketing, first noticed a lump and a burning sensation in her abdomen while out for a run in May 2023. After an initial visit to urgent care, where doctors suspected a hernia, she was ultimately diagnosed with stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of bile duct cancer that typically affects adults over 50.
Towle often spoke about how unusual her diagnosis was given her age and health history. "I don't fit any of the demographic factors," she told People in 2025. "It's usually found in people with other health issues, or older individuals with a history of hepatitis. That's why my oncologist is repeating tests and doing another biopsy, just to make absolutely sure. It's extremely rare in someone my age." Even so, she said part of her had sensed something was wrong before the diagnosis came. "I almost had an idea it was cancer," she said. "We all know our bodies pretty well."
Sharing Her Journey With Millions
What began as an ordinary social media presence, selfies and the occasional dance video, transformed into something much bigger once Towle started documenting her cancer treatment. She eventually relocated to New York City to continue care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and became a prominent voice within the "CancerTok" community, a corner of the platform where young cancer patients share their experiences. Her TikTok following grew to more than 1.1 million people, with another 214,000 on Instagram.
Her updates didn't shy away from the harder moments. In June 2025, she posted a tearful video after learning her cancer had progressed. "It's the first time that I have gone in, and they've said, 'This isn't good,'" she said at the time, adding, "which obviously is not what you want to hear when you have cancer." She went on to have surgery to place a hepatic chemotherapy pump, a device used to deliver high doses of chemotherapy directly to the liver.
Even amid setbacks, Towle continued to express determination. In May, she told her followers she was "not at a point where we're giving up." Reflecting on a period of remission the previous November, she described the emotional toll of an unexpected reversal after a scan revealed a new lesion that later doubled in size within a month. "I don't think I've processed it," she told TODAY.com at the time. "I've kind of disassociated from it."
Towle is survived by her mother, Elizabeth Morrow, and brother, Austin Towle.
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